Godwin Center Opens!

INSIDE THE CENTER

Tour Notes and Photos

This structure was built in 1905 as the McLeod homestead on a large farm several miles northwest of here. It was later moved to the present location in order to make way for the I-5 freeway. The Boutwell family purchased it in 1956 and raised their seven children in this house. After Mr. Boutwell died those seven brothers and sisters agreed to sell the property to the Godwin Family to further the mission of the Arc of Whatcom County.

Our Mission is to improve the quality of life, increase the independence, and assure the full inclusion into the community of all persons with developmental disabilities.

The Godwin Family purchased the property for The Arc in memory of their son Daniel Aaron Godwin. As a young adult and in his passing, he is being honored by raising community awareness about the need for social opportunities for people with developmental disabilities and the need for a place where people of all ages and abilities can come together, have fun and "never meet a stranger."

Daniel's legacy of valuing every individual's spirit of hope, compassion and joy lives on.

This huge project began July 2004 and was completed April 2007. It was accomplished with the help of many citizens concerned about the rights of people with developmental disabilities.

The renovation to convert a single family residence into an ADA commercial code building took 33 months at a cost of $630,000.00 dollars (which does not include the building purchase price). Donations of material and labor came from Whatcom County businesses, friends of the Arc and people touched by the mission of the project from all over the United States. Thousands and thousands of dollars in grants were procured. Not one cent of program dollars was diverted from serving people with developmental disabilities to make the Arc's Dan Godwin Community Center a reality.

This 3,000 square foot building consists of a recreation hall, community conference center, volunteer work stations and community kitchen, all designed with people with disabilities in mind.

Outside

Due to the commercial status of the site, the City of Bellingham required 16 parking stalls. The new parking lot was created by using about half pervious concrete and about half reinforced grass paving. The Arc determined that much of the required parking could be use used as a grass outdoor event and recreation area. The reinforced grass in the parking area allows the space to be used for both parking and recreation depending on the need.The trees outlining the lawn and the many flowering plants and scrubs were planted by volunteers. Several hundred volunteers and many more hours were dedicated to accomplish this as well as the construction of the retaining wall to the lower entrance. Future plans include an accessible garden pathway of pavers with the names of donors engraved and a soothing water feature. The three large fruit bearing apple trees are over 50 years old and have been pruned by volunteers the spring. There are also 6 new young trees, 3 flowering cherry and 3 flowering plum.
Next month the Bellingham Master Gardeners will be offering the neighborhood a workshop on designing accessible raised beds and fragrant gardens here.

Recreation Hall

Donors have given the wonderful games such as the air hockey table, which is a favorite of the youngsters. The Book Nook was created by Tom Godwin and provides leisure reading opportunities for all ages. We have plans for an audio visual system soon to be installed for entertaining by showing movies on a large wall mounted flat screen T.V. We raised one third of the funding needed for a wheelchair lift for the stairway. You will notice in the restroom lighting comes on when you enter without the need to touch a switch. Bathroom fixtures are accommodating and easy to access. The outdoor patio fenced off from the street provides a safe place for basketball and a picnic area.

Main Floor

The kitchen cabinets and stove were installed with universal design in mind (accessibility to all). The workstations are built at varying heights to accommodate different wheelchair sizes. Much of the volunteer work happens on this floor. The conference room is available for community meetings. The open spacing of rooms and incandescent lighting were the direct result of much planning. Our reception area is the job training site for one of our employees who is learning with the help of a job coach the reception skills needed to assists our guests.

Top Floor

The top floor houses the offices the Arc of Whatcom, Island and Skagit Counties. This support center produces three newsletters; The Parent Coalition News, the Down Syndrome Outreach News and collaborates to produce the Parent to Parent of Whatcom County Newsletter. Their total distribution reaches some 2,000 homes.

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Programs provided by the Arc of Whatcom County include:

The Choice Project which focuses on young adults learning the principles of self determination which fostering greater community inclusion. Person Centered planning to assist adults with a developmental disability be empowered by using planning strategies to obtain meaningful supports to meet personal priorities and goals. A safety awareness and sexuality class, moderated by certified mental health professionals using nationally recognized curricula. Self determination groups for teens and People First of Whatcom County (for adults) are sponsored as well.

The Down syndrome Outreach Program which provides individuals with Down syndrome and their families the support needed to experience positive, nurturing, typical community events. The programs strive to ensure they are connected to other families with similar experiences to develop natural peer supports and raises community awareness.

The Parent Coalition Program which assists individuals with developmental disabilities and their families understand how to get their needs met. This could be in the form of applying for and receiving government services or building a network of natural supports to lead a more typical life where their disability becomes secondary.

The Arc's Dan Godwin Community Center is a family-centered place where community members of all ages and abilities can gather to share resources and participate in recreational and educational activities. This is a place for everyone to enjoy family-friendly activities and to appreciate the diversity within our community.